1
a : an obligation of record entered into before a court or magistrate requiring the performance of an act (as appearance in court) usually under penalty of a money forfeiture
During high school days in the good old days in Nigeria, students delighted in using big words, both in spoken and written English. Grabbing a dictionary to fish out the meaning of jaw breakers, as some of these words were called, was common practice. During debates, big words thrown out by debaters were carefully noted and researched afterwards and added to the stockpile of big grammar by students who loved using big words. Using big words was the in thing in those days and people took pride in throwing out heavy-sounding words.
The big words were also shared in letters between friends. There were no telephones for calls or texting in those days and young people actually communicated through letter writing. In those days also, letters did not disappear in the mail, even when they came from overseas, usually from pen pals, whose cursive handwriting were a challenge to read. Many years later when my children started learning to write cursive, it dawned on me that people were not born with the ability to write cursive. It is actually a tedious task, carefully learned and mastered. Most schools do not teach children how to write cursive anymore and that in my opinion is a loss.
I remember coming across the word recognizance a few times in those high school days, but I never took the time to look up the meaning and I had a vague idea what the word meant based on its use.
Fast forward to 1994, in a big room packed with parents, students, teachers and school board officials at the county recreation center, who gathered for the county spelling bee contest. Children, champions from their schools, had gathered to contest for the champion who would represent the county at the next level, leading up to state and then the national championship. Elementary and middle school children up to eighth grade were involved in the contest.
It was a heated contest, as the children spelled their best and each time a student was eliminated, the disappointment registered right away on the face of the child, followed by relief, resignation, or continued disappointment, depending on the reaction of supporters in the audience. .
My 9 year old son, a fifth grader at the time, was involved, representing his school at the spelling bee contest. He was the youngest among the group of contestants. His siblings and I helped him prepare for the contest. Being an avid reader, he read books and newspapers all the time and had good spelling skills. We helped him practise the list of words given to him, but there were so many words that it was very hard to go through all the words. He knew he was under no pressure whatsoever to win, all he had to do was to work hard and do his best at the contest. Putting in his best was the expectation.
We decided that his best strategy would be a relaxed state of mind. Being totally relaxed and at home would help him visualise words, think about them and then attempt to spell them by sound. It was also suggested to him to ask for a repetition and the definition of a word if he was not sure of the meaning, and that would also buy him time to reflect on the word and then spell it. We went over the strategy time and again.
Equipped with prayer for a safe drive to the venue for all the competitors, the game plan, and a full stomach, we left for the venue, a twenty minute drive from home. His siblings, after wishing him well, were dropped off at school and daycare and we drove to the center, relaxed. The large room was full and the champions were invited to the seats reserved for them at the front of the room and the grilling started. Words, familiar words, unfamiliar words, long words, short words, simple words, difficult words, were thrown at the children by the announcer and some unlucky children got very hard words and ended up being eliminated in their first try.
Before long, the number of contestants dropped to a handful of spellers and the excitement rose. Each time the boy had a turn, he would throw a quick glance in his mother's direction, make eye contact, and she would nod in agreement, as if to say, " go for it", and he would spell and then throw another quick glance for her to acknowledge his success. He was lucky to get words he knew how to spell. Then it came to a point where only two students were left and it happened to be that the youngest two in the group were left, both fifth graders.
The room was filled with palpable apprehension. The children did not seem as nervous as the grownups. They kept spelling words until one of them slipped and the last, final word was announced, which the possible winner would spell and if correctly spelled, another word would be given, and if that word was spelled correctly, a winner would emerge. The skinny nine-year old stood there as the crowd focused on him. There was total silence, one could hear a pin drop.
He spelled his word correctly and after the applause came the final word, which if spelled correctly would make him the champion. Again there was total silence.
The announcer pronounced the word and there was a soft moan in the room.
RE.COG.NI.ZANCE
The boy stared in front of him, and then a quick glance in his mother's direction. She nodded in agreement, and he politely asked for a definition of the word. He listened carefully as the announcer repeated the word and defined it, adding that a definition may not really help. The boy reflected on the word and then slowly spelled it, just the way it sounded to him. There was total silence when he finished spelling the word. Then came a word from the announcer---
Correct.
There was a few seconds of silence and then applause. The boy looked in his mother's direction and there she was standing up clapping for him. A big smile, as big as the smile on his mother's face, spread across his face.. As he was congratulated by his peers and the adults, he was polite and humble and all that really mattered to him was the fact that his mother was there,and supported and applauded him. He was very happy and upbeat about that. Even when the newspaper published his winning and published the wrong word, he did not care. Even when he was out spelled at the next level, he was not bothered, he had given it his best and that was all that mattered.
In life, winning and winning at all cost, sometimes gets in the way of allowing God to do his will in our lives. Pulling back from it all, surrendering everything to God, everything, knowing fully well that God is in control, both in good times and in bad times, and that he has paid the bail to buy his people freedom, makes a lot of sense.
God is always there to cheer us on. Trusting him and acknowledging his cheering helps when the journey becomes almost impossible.
One can then live life in total freedom and peace and try to spread that love and peace to others, both friendly and unfriendly others, hardly an easy task to carry out, armed with that knowledge.
Knowing fully well that the freedom and peace enjoyed by believers (recognizors) is not earned or deserved, but rather given through the total love of God, helps in navigating through life, until the day of the call to the great beyond, which is as sure as the sun rising every morning.
To God be all glory. Amen.
22It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23
King James Version (KJV)
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